Apparatus for extracting gas



I v 1,635,620 y 12 1927- w. HARTMAN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GA S Filed June 16. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet l 0. p EMAnuELWHaRTmaH INVENTOR- IBY ATTORNEY v July 12, 1927. ,620

E. W. HARTMAN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GAS Filed June 16. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EMRHUELW. HaRmAN \FflJEFfRDFK July 12, 1927.

E. W. HARTMAN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GAS Filed June 16. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY H ENHHUELW- HARTMAN INVEHTOR ATTORNEY Patented July 12, 1927.

UNITED STATES EMANUEL W.- HARTMAN, OF MIAMI, FLORIDA.

APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GAS.

Application filed June 16, 1921. Serial No. 478,140.

This invention relates to an improvement in an apparatus for extracting gas, particularly in that type in which the gas is extracted from the bitumen containing material kept continuously in motion during its progress through the apparatus.

One object of this invention isto provide an apparatus in which the material from which the gas is to be extracted follows a substantially spiral course during its progress from the intake to the outlet.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gas extracting apparatus in which there is a free and unobstructed passage from the part carrying the treated material to the cracking tower.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gas extracting apparatus of circular form in which the material to be treated is moved over annular shelves by means of a purality of rotary conveyors and in which the central portion of the apparatus acts as a cracking tower.

Other objects will appear from a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the drawings which form a part thereof and in which Fig. l is a transverse sectional view of an apparatus embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross section of such apparatus taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the fire box taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of oneof the shelves on which the material to be treated is sup-' ported;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a view illustrating diagrammati cally the relationship of the feed and discharge passages and the openings in the shelves.

Referring to the drawings reference numeral 10 is used to designate a furnace embodying one form of this invention having outer walls 11 and foundations 12 made of brick or other suitable non-heat conducting material. As shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3 this furnace is circular in form. Supported on the foundation is a circular plate 13 slightly crowned at the center and provided with a plurality of ears 14 spaced at regularintervals around the circumference.

Supported upon the plate 13 are a plurality of annular members or shelves 15, one

second flange.

of which is shown in detail in Figs. 4 and 5. Referring to those figures it will be noted that the shelf is an integral casting proyided with two sets of ears 16 and 17, equal 1n number to and spaced the same distance apart as the ears 14. In addition to the horizontal fiat annular portion 18 of the shelf which supports the material to be treated, as will-be described later, the shelf is provided with an inner annular flange l9 and an outer annular flange 20, the lower set of ears .16 being fixed at the bottom of the In the furnace is a plurality of such shelves mounted one on top of another and fixed inplace by means of bolts passing through the ears as shown in Fig. 1.

Through the portion 18 of each shelf is provided an opening 21. The shelves are so positioned that the openings 21 are staggered, as illustrated in Fig. 6. Since the shelves are identical in construction and thus interchangeable, it is obviously very easy to assemble them in any desirable relationship so as to vary the length of travel of the material through the furnace and it is also very easy to replace a shelf should the occasion arise at any time.

A cover plate 22 formed similar in many respects to the shelves 15 is fixed in place by means of bolts passing through the cars 23 on the flange 24 of the cover plate and the upper ears 17 of the upper shelf 15. It will be noted that when the plates 13 and 22-and the shelves 15 are assembled as shown in Fig. 1 there is formed a retort A in which the bitumen containing material is treated. Surrounding this retort A is an annular flue 25 formed between the walls 11 of the furnace on the one hand and the flanges 20 of the shelves 15 and the flange 24 of the top plate 22 on the other hand. At the bottom of the furnace is an annular fire box 26 having a door 27 through which gas or other fuel can be fed to keep the retort at the proper temperature during the operation of the furnace. The fire box 26 is defined by a metal ring 28 having a plurality of openings 29 there-through so that the heated air can escape through these openings to the flue 25 and thence through the stack 30. The retort is thus heated at both bottom and sides so that the material being treated is subjected to substantially the same heat during its entire travel.- ile any fuel may be used it has been found that gas fed through one or more burners in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3 is the most satisfactory.

The material is moved through the retort by means of a conveyor mechanism supported upon and operated by an upright shaft 31 carried by bearings 32 mounted on a platform 33 depending from the center of the foundation 12. A flanged annular plate fixed to the lower end of the shaft overhangs the bearings 32 and insures the proper location of the shaft. The chief weight of the shaft 31 is carried by I-beams 35 which rest on the walls 11 of the furnace. Between the plate 36 secured to the I-bcams and a flanged cup-like plate 37 on the shaft are anti-friction bearings 38. The conveyor mechanism consists of a plurality of rotary conveyors 39, of the form shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 2, keyed to or otherwise fixed upon the shaft 31. Each of these conveyors comprises a sleeve or thimble 40 which surrounds the shaft 31 and which is connected to the annular conveying portion 11 by means of a spider 42. The portion 11 consists of a series of equally spaced pockets 43 defined by means of the annular flanges al and 15. The inner flange 44: is so arranged that it will project below the upper edge of the flange 19 of the shelf 15. The outer flange a5 is made shorter than the inner flange for a purpose to be described later.

The material is fed into the retort by some form of trap mechanism 46 which will prevent as much as possible the escape of gas from and entrance of air into the retort. The mechanism here shown is the same as that shown and described in detail in my copending application Serial No. 186;113 filed July 20, 1921. The trap is supplied through the chute 47 and the material is fed from the trap to the upper shelf 15 through the inlet passage 48. After the operation is completed the residue falls from the retort A through the passage e9 into the trap mechanism 50. This mechanism corresponds, except in size, to the trap 16 and carries the material to the discharge chute 51.

ALS shown in Fig. 6 the shelves 15 are mounted with the openings 21 staggered. Thus the conveyor which moves anti-clockwise according to Fig. 6 of the drawing, in transferring the material on one shelf from directly below the opening 21 in the shelf above to the opening 21, will move it slightly less than a full circle. If however it be desired to decrease the travel of the material for some reason or other the arrangement of the shelves can be changed to decrease the anticlockwise distance between the openings in adjacent shelves. Fig. 6 shows the maximum travel possible with six shelves.

The shelves projecting inwardlyfrom the walls of the retort define a central comparatively unobstructed cylindrical chamber 52 to which the gas which arises as a result of the heating of the material on the shelves 15 escapes freely in several ways, upwardly through the pockets -13, between the flanges 1 1 or beneath the flange 15 which is made shorter for that reason. The chamber 52 of the conveyor and the flange 19 of the shelf is connected by outlets 53 in the top plate to a pipe line 5 1 by which the gas is conveyed to the gas treating apparatus where the gasoline and other products are extracted. The top plate 22 is somewhat concaved so as to guide the gas away from the inlet passage 48 and toward the outlets The chamber is heated directly by the fire box 26 so that in case any heavy particles carried off with the gas fall to the bottom of the chamber they are further cracked under this heat and go out through the outlet 53. The chamber 52 thus acts as a cracking tower and will be referred to as such in the specification and claims.

In order to prevent the escape of gas around the shaft 31 a bushing 55 is provided comprising the collar 56 bolted to the top plate and projecting in a pocket 57 aroun the shaft which contains any suitable gasket material 58.

The feed trap d6 is operated by a vertical shaft 59 and the discharge trap is operated by a vertical shaft 60. Power is transmitted through the pulley 61 to a horizontal shaft 62, supported in bearing plates 63. The shaft 62 drives the shaft 31 thru the gears 6d and 65. The feedtrap shaft 59 is operated from the shaft 31 by the gears 65 and (it), the shaft 67, supported in a bearing plate 68, and the. gears 69 and 70. At the upper end of the discharge trap shaft 60 is fixed a'bevel gear 71 which meshes with a bevel gear 72 on a horizontal shaft 73 carried by the bearing plate 7 1. The shaft 7 3 is dirven from the shaft 62 by any suitable means, the pulleys 7 5 and 76 and belting 7 7 being illustrated in the drawing.

In the operation of this furnace the material is fed through the chute 47 to the trap 16 and thence through the )assage 48 onto the upper shelf 15 falling lnto pockets 41 of the upper rotating conveyor 39. This conveyor carries the material around the upper shelf until the opening 21 is reached through which the material drops down to the second shelf where it is picked up by the second conveyor and the same operation is repeated until the material is carried by the lowest conveyor 39 to the outlet passage 49 through which it drops to the trap 50 and is discharged through the chute 51. During this travel the material is subjected to an intense heat from the fire box and flue andv tower 52 and thence to the outlets 53 and the pipe line 5 1.

While one embodiment only has been shown and described I am not to be limited thereby since it is obvious that others could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the following claims.

Having thus set forth my invention that which I claim as new and for which I desire the protection of Letters Patent of the United States is the following: s

1. In an apparatus for extracting gas from bitumen containing material, a retort having a series of parallel annular shelves vertically arranged to form a vertical passage through thecenter of saidretort, said passage being in communication with said shelves, means for feeding the material to the upper shelf, each shelf having an opening therethrough, conveyor mechanism having pockets for receiving and moving the material to be treated, along each shelf to the opening therein and means for heating said retort, the gas extracted from the material escaping from the shelves into said vertical passage.

2. In an apparatus for extracting gas from bitumen containing material, a cylindrical retort having a series of parallel annular shelves vertically arranged to form a vertical passage through the center of said retort, said passage bing in communication with said shelves, means for feeding the material to the upper shelf, each shelf ,hav-

ing an opening therethrough, conveyor mechanism havin pockets for receiving and moving the material to be treated along each shelf to the opening therein andmeans for heating said retort, the gas extracted from the material escaping from the shelves into, said vertical passage.

' In testimon whereof, I aflix my signature,

E NUEL W. HARTMAN. 

